A place to visit for information about eating healthy (not starving), knowing what's in your food, easy recipes, and support along the way from a real Mom, with a real life, teaching her kids to eat real food.

Caramel Apple Doughnuts with dairy-free Caramel Topping

At Halloween time I was concerned with my kids feeling left out at their classroom parties which were serving so much junk and refined sugar, it made my stomach hurt just seeing it. I decided to make them a junk food I felt ok about them having. And I can tell you from experience if you put it in a donut shape they will love it no matter what! The caramel tasted like the real thing, but we all agreed the donut would have been just fine without it. Plus by the next day it was so hard it was difficult to eat. So I say skip the caramel unless you’re eating them right away. Or even use it for dipping apples.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F and oil a doughnut pan with a dab of coconut oil. Set aside

Place all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate large bowl, combine all wet ingredients.
Add dry to wet and stir to combine. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to thicken up.
Place the batter in a piping bag or large ziploc bag with the end cut off the end so there’s about a 1/2-inch opening.
Fill each cavity 3/4 to the top. Be careful not to overfill or the doughnuts will overflow while cooking.
Place in the oven to bake for 20-22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and edges are just beginning to brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes before grabbing the pan with an oven mitt and tipping over onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely (about 30 minutes) before adding caramel topping.

Dairy-free Caramel Topping

A 3 ingredient, dairy-free caramel topping that will take you under 10 minutes to make!

Because this is a natural caramel, it will not hold up well at room temperature. Once you’ve dipped the doughnuts, serve immediately or place in the fridge or freezer. The caramel will melt on you if you leave it out! But don’t worry, the doughnuts will still be just as tasty regardless. If you don’t want a hard topping (exactly the consistency of caramel on a caramel apple) don’t cook the honey as long.

Yield: 1/2 cup

Ingredients
6 tbsp unpasteurized honey
2 tbsp roasted cashew butter or other nut butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Place honey in a small frying pan and heat on medium-low heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly with a fork or spoon. The honey will begin to foam. Don’t worry, this is good!
Add nut butter and vanilla and continue stirring
for 1-2 minutes, until big bubbles form and the mixture pulls away from the side slightly. The longer you cook it, the harder it will get.
Remove from heat and use immediately before it hardens up.